County shelves rapid transit system proposal

HERNANDO — DeSoto County has shelved for the moment a proposal to offer a rapid transit system to Memphis, Tenn., along the proposed Interstate 69.

Board of Supervisors president Allen Latimer tells The Commercial Appeal that the action was taken after the county’s cash-strapped cities bowed out.

Latimer says the county cannot under take the project alone.

Planners had put capital costs at about $3.5 million with an 80/20 percent federal-local funding formula.

Annual operating costs would have been split between Memphis and DeSoto County and its participating cities.

Ridership forecasts had been projected nearly 1,200 daily boardings and more than 343,000 annual boardings by 2018.

Latimer says local cities had expressed interest but had no money to dedicate to the project.